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Welcome as we remember and honor those among us who speak up.
Opening Prayer: Holy One, open our minds and hearts to your truth. Allow us to hear you, to see you, to live in your Divine Love, just as our brother Jesus did. And as we strive to live as he did, help us to become more and more the people you created us to be. Amen.
Opening Song: Glory to God by Marty Haugen, https://youtu.be/uLyAzS7FThk
First Reading: A reading from an address by Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde
Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families who fear for their lives.
And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift in hospitals – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.
Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.
May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world.
These are the words of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, speaking truth to the President of the United States on January 21st, 2025.
Gospel Acclamation: Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker
Gospel: A reading from the writer known as Mark (Mk. 6:17-29)
Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers,
his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee.
Herodias’ own daughter came in
and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What shall I ask for?”
She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
“I want you to give me at once
on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders
to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
These are the words of the writer we know as Mark. We respond with Amen.
Homily Starter
The right to speak up to the powerful has long been protected in democracies around the world. In ancient Greece it was known as parrhesia. Greek men reserved the right to criticize, ridicule, and disagree with those in power. The same word, parrhesia, also referred to the courage it took to actually make use of the right, knowing that the speaker’s words would certainly offend the people wielding the most power. Not far away, first-century Jews lived much more constrained lives, under strict religious law and as subjects of imperial Rome. But Greece certainly wasn’t far away, and the desire to speak up to injustice must have been strong. As we see from our Gospel, John’s outspokenness cost him his life. But regardless, his defiant words were spoken, could not be unspoken, and remain to this very day. Words don’t die.
As a citizen of a 21st century democracy, Bishop Budde enjoys a version of parrhesia, a right which now extends to both men and women. The bishop is direct. She uses her right of free speech to name the offence, addressing the powerful person who is perpetrating the offence, and appeals to that person to change. In a way, her speech demonstrates both senses of parrhesia, both the right and the courage to speak truth to power. Bishop Budde was ridiculed by the right-wing media as a “so-called bishop” and a “fake bishop.” The President called her a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater.” But she lives, and maintains her position as leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. Her head remains firmly attached to the rest of her body. And like John’s words, the words she spoke that day still resonate. Her truth still speaks itself to those who want to hear it and to those who would like to silence that truth. Words don’t die.
Two speakers, separated by miles and centuries; one a teacher of Jesus, the other a disciple of Jesus, both speaking truth to power. Just as Jesus himself did. Their words continue to echo in our lives, and will not be un-heard. Words don’t die.
What did you hear in today’s readings? Please share your thoughts.
Statement of Faith
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
(Written by Jay Murnane)
Prayers of the Community
As we prepare for this sacred meal, we bring to this table our prayers for the community beginning with the words, I bring to the Table.
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Eucharistic Prayer
Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together.
Blessed are you, Holy One, source of all creation. Through your goodness you made this world and called us to be Your co-creators. We give thanks for the diversity and beauty of life around us and within us.
We open our awareness to the goodness of all of creation and we remember our responsibility to serve. You invite us to build the earth into a community of love rooted in justice. You placed confidence in us, for you made us and you know that we are good.
In joy and in thanksgiving we join with all the faithful servants who have gone before us and we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy: by Peter Mayer
We thank you for Jesus, simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, and revealing us as one with you and all of creation.
He lived among us to show us who we are and challenged us to know you. He taught us the strength of compassionate love.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are grateful for your Spirit at our Eucharistic Table and for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for supper with the people closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their feet, so that they would re-member him.
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
(pause)
Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
(pause)
What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives. As we share communion, we become Communion both love’s nourishment and love’s challenge.
Please receive Communion with the words, “May my words bring life and justice.”
Communion Meditation: Lost Words Blessing by Artists from the Spell Songs, Video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
Prayer after Communion
Holy One, we are willing to do everything Jesus did, to re-create the living presence of a love that does justice, of a compassion that heals and liberates, of a joy that generates hope, of a light that illumines people and confronts the darkness of every injustice and inequity.
We trust you to continue to share with us your own spirit, the spirit that animated Jesus, for it is through his life and teaching, all honor and glory is yours, O Holy One, forever and ever. Amen.
Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Holy One, you are within, around and among us.
We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come; your will be done,
unfolding from the depths within us.
Each day you give us all that we need.
You remind us of our limits and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us,
now and forever, Amen.
Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
BLESSING
Please raise your hands in Blessing:
May our lives reflect the love of the Holy One in whatever form that takes. May our words reflect the life of Jesus and bring the Kin-dom he preached into the lives of all who hear. May we be a blessing in our time. Amen.
Closing Song: Speechless From "Aladdin" - Cover by Rise Up Children's Choir
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